Conventional apparatuses are typically made up of an exterior unit and an interior unit each. The exterior unit is set up outdoors and constituted by a microphone, a speaker and a door phone button, while the interior unit is installed indoors and composed of calling sound generating means a microphone and a speaker. When a visitor pushes a door phone button of the exterior unit, the calling sound generating means included in the interior unit typically generates a calling sound like that of a chime.
The calling sound informs the resident that someone is paying a visit. A conversation takes place between the visitor and the resident using microphones and speakers of the exterior and interior units respectively. The resident is then able to know the purpose of the visit without opening the door.
Some of today's door phone apparatuses have their exterior unit furnished with an image pickup device and their interior unit with a display screen. The image pickup device takes a picture of the visitor and causes the display screen to display the visitor's image for the resident to determine the visitor's identity (as disclosed illustratively in Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. 2000-092221). The imaging setup allows the resident to know who the visitor is before starting a conversation with him or her so that on the basis of the visitor's apparent identity, the resident may even pretend not to be at home.
The door phone apparatus above is also used in the multiple dwelling house such as an apartment building. Illustratively, the multiple dwelling house has its shared entrance furnished with a shared entrance apparatus including a locking mechanism-equipped door along with numeric keys by which to enter a room number, a calling key for triggering a calling sound, a microphone, and a speaker. Each of the dwelling units constituting the multiple dwelling house is provided with a door phone apparatus for audibly communicating with the shared entrance apparatus installed at the shared entrance.
A visitor at the entrance of the house operates numeric keys of the shared entrance apparatus to enter a desired room number and pushes the calling key, causing the desired dwelling unit's door phone apparatus to generate a calling sound alerting the resident inside. The resident answers the call through the door phone apparatus. If it is judged appropriate to let the visitor in, the resident pushes an unlock key of the apparatus to unlock the door of the shared entrance, thereby allowing the visitor to come into (to enter) the building.
Later, the visitor again alerts the resident through the door phone apparatus at the entrance of the dwelling unit of interest. The resident then responds and receives the visitor.
As described, the multiple dwelling house such as an apartment building is regarded as a single house, which is then furnished with the shared entrance having the locking mechanism-equipped door controlled by residents of the dwelling units making up the house. Each of the dwelling units is equipped individually with the door phone apparatus in order to constitute what may be called a dual check door phone system.
Residents of the multiple dwelling house furnished with such a door phone system may each possess a shared entry key, use a secret number, or resort to other suitable means to unlock the entrance door. This is how the residents control their comings and goings through the shared entrance of the house.
The multiple dwelling house furnished with the door phone system above is supposed to have the advantage of crime prevention by effectively restricting the access of visitors to the house. This advantage, however, sometimes works against the interests of the residents of the house.
For example, each and every one of caterers, delivery services, inspectors of utilities, repairmen, or other people who are expected frequently to visit the multiple dwelling house need to be answered twice through the door phone apparatus by the resident involved: once at the shared entrance, and again at the dwelling unit entrance. This can be a considerable nuisance to the residents.
When calling at a dwelling unit whose resident is absent, delivery services typically leave a message saying that they have goods to deliver and ask the resident to tell them the convenient time for a second visit when the resident comes home. For the residents, having to call up the delivery service upon coming home is also a nuisance. For the delivery services, having to call at the same address a number of times is something they want to avoid in view of additional time and costs.
Attempts to bypass such troubles are being made by some of today's multiple dwelling houses using storage boxes shared by the residents for automatically taking delivery of goods during their absence. The shared storage box scheme works as follows: a plurality of storage boxes used on a shared basis by the residents are installed in a common space of the house (e.g., in the entrance hall) where anyone can come in. A deliveryman, having called from the hall a dwelling unit whose resident turns out absent, designates the dwelling unit in question to any empty storage box, places the goods therein, and locks the box in such a manner that only the designated resident can later unlock the box and collect what is placed inside. The scheme is supposed to have the goods securely delivered regardless of the recipients being at home or absent.
The scheme above has its share of disadvantages. Because the storage boxes are installed in the common space where not only delivery agents but also virtually anyone can come in, the boxes can soon be exhausted for diverse purposes. Then the goods to be delivered are left undelivered despite the presence of the boxes, which can frustrate the unattended recipients. Ultimately, there must be as many storage boxes as the number of the dwelling units constituting the multiple dwelling house.
The present invention has been made under the above circumstances and provides apparatuses which, installed in a multiple dwelling house, alleviate the burdens on its residents having to receive door-to-door salespeople and other unsolicited visitors by restricting their calls and visits and which allow the dwelling units of the house automatically to take care of delivery and pickup of goods by callers regardless of the residents being at home or absent.